RHS students travel abroad

First-hand experience impresses beyond the textbook

A crowd of people gather around one of history's famous gems, the Parthenon Students from Ruidoso High School visited one of the world's most recognizable landmarks on a recent trip. (Courtesy)

Nine wide-eyed Ruidoso High School students and their six chaperones recently returned from a nine-day adventure to the other side of the world. The fortunate students of Mr. Kevin Clawson received a unique opportunity to expand their knowledge beyond the textbooks they had studied and see ancient, historical landmarks firsthand.

There was excitement in the air as sleepy students left the high school parking lot at 5:30 a.m. to begin the first part of the journey to the El Paso International Airport. There, the group flew to Houston where they boarded a Lufthansa airliner for a 10-hour flight to Frankfurt, Germany. After a short layover, we embarked toward our first destination: Rome, Italy.

A panoramic view of the spectacular island of Capri, Italy. (Courtesy)

Arriving in Rome around 3 p.m., we began to sense the reality of our experience as the tour bus whizzed by the famous Coliseum. Despite a serious case of jet lag and not having recently showered, the ancient city called out, begging to be explored right then. After an enjoyable two hours of traveling around the sites by bus and discovering some of the hidden gems of the city center on foot, our first day came to an end. In that brief time frame, we had seen beautiful artwork, colorful street performers and musicians that seemed to be on every corner, had narrowly avoided being pick-pocketed. and tasted the best Gelato that I personally have ever put in my mouth. Rome was simply bursting with flavor.

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We checked into our nicely furnished hotel, got a short night's rest and were up early for our free day to do whatever we pleased in the ancient city.

The following day, the entire tour group had a delightful continental breakfast and set out on what was to become a 10-hour walking adventure. We said our "goodbyes" to Rome for a few hours and entered the mysterious Vatican City, a separate world unto itself. Although our entire Vatican visit had us "oohing" and "awing," the Sistine Chapel was by far the most unforgettable. Michelangelo's revolutionary work was no longer a mere textbook image, but a living memory to be etched in our minds forever.

Upon leaving the Vatican, we headed for our next destination, the Coliseum. Here, most likely anyone who has seen the great biblical movies probably would be conjuring up images of the Christians being fed to the lions. It was quite impressive.

After what seemed like three really short days, we were on our way to the lost city of Pompeii, where in the year 79 AD the volcano Vesuvius erupted, burying the entire village in volcanic ash. We were shown actual bodies that had been petrified and preserved in their last living moments.

Next, our group boarded a mid-sized ferry boat to the island of Capri. This enchanting island appears to be a virtual paradise of breath-taking scenery, high-end infrastructure, and the most incredibly tasting food. If you should ever happen to find yourself in Southern Italy, you will find the absolute best pizza in Capri. We Americans really don't know authentic pizza until we travel to Italy.

From Capri, we headed for another ferryboat ride to the city of Sorrento, where we spent our all-too-short visit checking out many interesting shops.

The next morning, we were up at 5 a.m. for a six-hour bus ride to the port of Ancona, where we departed on a 26-hour boat ride to Patras, Greece.

In contrast to the busy excitement of Rome, the more sparse landscape of Greece seemed very different, but quite beautiful nonetheless. We traveled to Delphi, our first destination on the island. Delphi is a small city built around only two one-way streets. The highlight of Delphi was our visit to the legendary archaeological site where the oracle of Apollo spoke.

Later that evening, we arrived at Athens, our final destination on the tour. Here, we visited the Acropolis, the highest point in Athens, and the Parthenon. The Parthenon, one of the world's most famous cultural monuments, was built in dedication to the maiden goddess Athena and is an archaeoastronomical site aligned to the star Hyades, one of two main groups of stars that makes up the Taurus constellation. Our last taste of Greece ended with a traditional Greek evening celebration filled with delicious foods and classic dancing. It was at this event where each of us was able to truly experience what life would be like as a native of Greece.

The long voyage home gave all of us ample opportunity to reflect on the education we had received on our short, but magnificent tour. Books are great, our teachers do a wonderful job of explaining, but nothing can take the place of the enlightenment one receives when they are able to visit the actual landmarks that they are reading about. The tour was a dream come true and opened the door for students' thirst for knowledge to carry them to other future destinations.